HD Kumaraswamy breaks down again, reason remains the Congress

In what again exposes the vulnerability of the Congress-JD (S) coalition in Karnataka, the state chief minister HD Kumaraswamy reportedly broke down during JD (S) legislature party meeting on Jan 8. According to media reports, Kumaraswamy said that he is tolerating harassment from senior Congress leaders keeping the state and party’s interest in mind.

According to a News18 report, Kumaraswamy has given hints that the Karnataka government may not last beyond the coming 2019 general elections. Addressing JDS MLAs and MLCs in the meeting, emotional Kumaraswamy told JDS MLAs and MLCs that he was functioning like a clerk and not like a chief minister because of Congress’ interference in everything.

The News18 has quoted an MLA who was present in the meeting saying, “He is sad. He almost cried. Told us that the Congress was behaving like a big brother. Forcing him to sign all kinds of orders. They forced him to expand the Cabinet and even appointed chairpersons to government-run boards and corporations without his approval. He feels that it is getting tougher with each passing day.”

Kumaraswamy said that he has been working under tremendous pressure and the Congress has kept forcing him to do everything which favors the grand old party, and he has no option but to follow the orders of the grand old party.

According to the News18 report, the JDS supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda was also present in the meeting. He told legislators that no one from the party will do anything against the coalition till the crucial Lok Sabha elections are not over. Gowda is expecting 12 Lok Sabha seats from the Congress in the upcoming general elections. However, Congress is willing to offer only six seats to JD (S), and this adamant attitude has become the new bone of contention between the two alliance partners. The JD (S) seems to have compromised with the self-respect of its leaders for mere political gains.

Earlier, Kumaraswamy has been in a habit of breaking down in public. In July last year, a teary-eyed HD Kumaraswamy had stated that “All of you are happy because your elder or younger brother has become the chief minister. But I am not happy. I am swallowing my own pain like poison, like Vishakantha (Lord Shiva, who drank poison to save the world).’’

Ever since the unholy Congress-JD (S) coalition came to power, there have been tussles on fundamental political issues. The JD (S) – Congress coalition episode is no less than a warning to the voters of India. If Mahagathbandhan manages to come to power then the Karnataka like situation might surface at the Centre as well.

This idea of opposition unity before the general elections is not a new thing in India. Earlier, also various regional parties have been coming together to oppose a particular person or a particular party. The fate of such alliances has always been very predictable. During the 90s, the country suffered a lot because of the coalition governments. The most recent example of the collapse of opposition unity is the one that was formed in Bihar. In the recently concluded Telangana state assembly elections, the joint opposition alliance Prajakutami–comprising the Telugu Desam Party, the Congress, the Telangana Jana Samithi and the CPI also suffered an abject failure. It happens because parties come together to fight against a particular person or party without having any common ideology.